“I’ve seen J.R. play a lot of times. I know he’s athletic. I know he can shoot it. But I didn’t know his work ethic. Up close, you see it that he really works. That’s probably the most surprising thing.”

Scott Souza also reports that Giddens already has some new ink: A shamrock behind his left ear. Giddens is trying hard to get us to like him:

Giddens says he knows he’s made mistakes. But he also feels it’s time for the corrections he’s made in his life to shine through. He admits he cares about, and has worked hard to restore, his public persona and wants the developing one of him in Boston to be positive.

“Somebody may be a dog on the court – a mean guy – but off the court he’s a teddy bear. I think it’s a little bit of that effect. Out here, I’m a monster, I’m a beast, I’m all in. But off the court my friends, teammates, know I am a real nice guy.”

I’ll state again for the record… I haven’t heard a single thing since the draft that make me question why he was drafted. I’m loving this pick more and more.

Former Boston Globe basketball guru turned Hoopshype blogger Peter May breaks down the genius that is Danny Ainge. May hails Ainge as a ballsy risk-taker, smart enough to cut his losses and creative enough to move them out of town. What stood out to me in this blog, was the negative aura surrounding Rajon Rondo prior to the 2007 draft:

Then, Ainge went to work to try and get Rondo, as he saw the Kentucky guard drop further and further in the first round. Finally, at No. 21, Ainge got the Suns to draft Rondo, trading a future first-rounder in a loaded draft class (2007.) Where others saw a history of conflict, a cocky kid and a guard who wasn’t anything close to a classic point guard, Ainge saw athleticism, defensive ability and intelligence, and wasn’t the least-bit put off by all the negativity emanating from Lexington, Kentucky.

“You know,’’ he said, “it isn’t always a bad thing when the player and the coach don’t see eye to eye. We interviewed a lot of people before we drafted Rajon. We heard all the stuff; he was cocky, uncoachable, all that stuff. But at the end of the day, we thought he’d be a good addition to our basketball team.”

My perception of Rondo is the exact opposite. He seems like an extremely humble kid, never seen jawing with coaches or teammates.

I got hit yesterday sitting in a meeting with my insurance company when a guy in a bright yellow shirt started hanging out, and eventually knocking on my conference room door. Right in the middle of the meeting I got the handoff and the “You’ve been served.” line.

Let’s be clear here… this is just some guy who loved his Sonics… and started a blog about it. He’s not being sued… but he’s being questioned about something good.

Look… blogs are about you guys… not people like me and Chuck. What I love is that someone passionate about a team he loves started something and people followed him. It’s too bad his team had to be taken away… but maybe he can exact some sort of revenge in court that ultimately, in some form, stings Bennet.

With the Olympics over, tumbleweeds are blowing through the NBA. The Celtics “officially” signed J.R. Giddens yesterday, but that’s something we knew a week ago. Fortunately, Marty Burns over at SI.com threw together some off-season report cards for the teams in the much-improved Atlantic Division. He gives the defending champs credit for resigning Eddie House & Tony Allen, keeping defensive guru Tommy T., and for the fact KG, PP and Ray did not expend any energy in Beijing.

What went wrong:

Posey no longer in their pockets.Posey, the veteran forward who hit some big three-pointers and played such a key defensive role opposite Kobe Bryant in last year’s Finals, signed with the Hornets. The Celtics hope Tony Allen can fill the void, but that remains to be seen. Allen is coming off a knee injury, and lacks Posey’s size and experience.

P.J. went back home.
After finally nabbing a long-sought NBA championship ring, veteran forward P.J. Brown has decided to hang ’em up again — at least for now. Though not as big a contributor as Posey, Brown played key minutes down the stretch after joining the Celtics late in the season. If Brown, 38, indeed stays retired (or goes elsewhere), Glen “Big Baby” Davis will have to step up.

They got a year older.
If only Ainge could do something about Father Time. Even though the Big Three got rest, Garnett (32), Allen (33) and Pierce (31 in October) all have logged a lot of minutes over their careers and are at an age where many begin to slow down. It will be interesting to see how much they have left in the tank late in the season.

Grade: C

The defending champs didn’t need to make many changes. But will the loss of Posey hurt them come playoff time?

Fair criticism. But whose to say PJ doesn’t rejoin the team come March? And the Big 3 maybe be getting older, but the other 2 – Perk and Rondo – should be better (in Rondo’s case, much better). Philly and Toronto are going to be trendy picks to beat the C’s this year. And don’t be surprised if the national media bias against the Celtics resurfaces come October. It’s way too early for predictions, but I expect the Celtics to coast to near 60 wins and another appearance in the Finals.

“The thing is they got guys that are willing to make a three-year commitment, which I think is tremendous,” Brown said of this current Team USA. “We had guys that committed (for 2004) and then all of a sudden 9/11 happened, and then there were injuries.”

Here’s a thought. Maybe everyone involved gave a half-assed effort. That seems much more likely

“This is not the time to speak of officiating, but I think with the FIBA rules we would have won. That is why we are a little annoyed, because we were right there at the finish line and we have just missed out.”

Why Jose… did you guys get a different set of rules before the tournament? The rules seem to suit you fine on your way to the gold medal game. Ya got beat. Live with it. Don’t you have any other races or an ethnicity to openly mock?

"I came for the gold medal, I stayed for the shoes made by cheap sweatshop labor."

Ok… so he’s not playing overseas… but he IS hawking Chinese shoes. The Sporting News brings us word that Jason Kidd has dumped Nike to wear Peak shoes. If you want to see more photos… including close ups of his shoes and a lot of things you can’t read… go here.

So Kidd joins Shane Battier on the Peak roster. Hmmm… a role player and washed up star. Way to build that roster. Meanwhile… Yao Ming is wearing Reebok. The hottest American star in China, Kobe Bryant, (and most of the league) is decked out in Nike. I’ve got KG and Dwight Howard selling me Addidas… Dwyane Wade hawking Converse (a Nike brand).

Do really think a role player and washed-up spousal abuser are going to make your big splash? Only if you buy me off with a LOT of free stuff.

Welcome to the part of the off-season where we forget the Celtics are defending champions and those seeds of doubt and anxiety start creeping in. It kinda goes something like this:

“OH MY GOD!!! THE ROSTER IS FULL AND I STILL DON’T REALLY KNOW WHO’LL REPLACE JAMES POSEY!!! AAAAARRRRRGH!!!!!”

To that I say… relax Chuck. (It’s also the part of the off-season where Chuck and I take gratuitous, unwarranted shots at one another just to keep things interesting). Jessica Camerato is already trying to answer those questions.

Rather than focusing on who the Celtics signed, the better assessment is looking at who the Celtics are bringing back. Despite losing Posey, they have kept their starting five in tact. Big men Leon Powe and Glen “Big Baby” Davis will be back with championship-winning experience under their belts and veteran guard Eddie House (and his clutch long-range shooting) is returning as well. The Celtics are not looking for Giddens, Miles, O’Bryant, and Walker to be game changers. The core of the championship team was built last summer and now it is up to these newcomers to uphold the Celtics’ winning ways.

She makes a good point. It’s easy to sit there and sweat over who we lost. But its who we didn’t lose that’s really big. For those of you who are still on the fence about Darius Miles… here’s just about everything there is to know about him.